The government requires 25,000 square feet of space. They’re going to build a facility for 47,000 square feet of space. That’s double what the government’s needs are. That is going to double the requirements and needs in the Inuvik region. If you’re talking about office space needs versus the size of a facility that’s going to be built, it’s twice the size of what’s required by the government today. If you can’t tell me that the other half of that space is going to be filled by somebody else.… Those people have to come from somewhere.
As a government we realize that the Inuvik economy is not really that secure without a pipeline. These people made a lot of investments in that area to hopefully take advantage of the market in that area. But as a government competing against that market, it’s not really fair to the private sector. Why should they invest in this market if this is the way the Government of the Northwest Territories is going to treat them?
I’d like to ask the Premier again: why is this government not doing a market disruption review by an independent body?